Monday, December 7, 2009

So, I said I'd tell you more about some special places we ate on our trip to Memphis & one of them is Maid-Rite. This was top on Matt's list of places we should visit on our trip.Maid-Rite is one of the first fast food franchises in the United States starting in Muscatine, IA in 1926. By the end of the 20's there were four restaurants, all of which are still open. They were one of the first chains to have a drive-up window. The location we went to was in Qunicy, IL & has been open since 1928.Though they have many items on their menu Maid-Rite is known for their Loose Meat Sandwich, a special grind & blend of Midwestern beef with spices. We ordered the Cheese Rite with a slice of American cheese.This place was totally old-school right down the the bows in the waitresses' hair. The locals seems to like it too as this place was full of groups of people of all ages.Now, I'm not going to tell you this was a great dining experience, really the food was just ok (though the chocolate malt was great) but it was a chance to experience a bit of American road food history. I know Maid Rite has been opening new locations around the country but these old ones in the midwest are really the draw to us. It ends up Alton Brown went to the same Maid Rite location as us on Feasting on Asphalt, you can watch his segment about it here.

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Love your honesty in the post. I know what you mean with these kind of food dining experiences. We have a place like that here called the Parkett Drive-in. The food is okay to good, but the place has so much history that is really why you go. The chocolate malt does sound awesome though! :)